Iowa City West records high school baseball doubleheader sweep over Cedar Rapids Washington

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Washington’s announcer summed it up perfectly.

He noted games produced a seventh-inning comeback and a seventh-inning stand. Both ended in Iowa City West’s favor.

The Trojans scored four runs with two outs in the final inning for a come-from-behind 12-11 victory in the opener. They thwarted the Warriors’ rally for a 4-3 nightcap triumph in a Mississippi Valley Conference baseball doubleheader sweep Friday night at Washington.

“It’s never giving up and not wanting to lose,” West sophomore Kyle Henkenius said. “We’re a really competitive team and I think that is what shows in these big situations late in the game.”

The Trojans (13-11, 10-8) were down to their final out when their late-game heroics started. Ely Smock walked and an error brought the tying run to the plate. Eli Nolte’s doubled to score Smock, bringing up Henkenius.

“We believe in each other,” Henkenius said. “We believe in everyone’s abilities. We trust each other to get good at-bats and that’s what we did. We put up good at-bats and had good hitting.

“We trusted ourselves and the work we’ve put in. I think that’s what led to the big comeback.”

Henkenius delivered a two-run single, chasing home Declan Bunn and Nolte to tie the game. Owen Harms followed with a double to left field for the game-winning RBI.

“The game was already tied,” Harms said. “Kyle was already in scoring position. I was ready to do some damage and get the lead for my guys.”

Nolte, Henkenius and Harms combined for eight of West’s 11 hits in Game 1. They also drove in seven total runs. When the batting order rolled over to the top with Bunn, the Trojans gained confidence in one another to complete their comeback.

“We have a lot of confidence in the top of the order,” Henkenius said. “They’re there for a reason. They’re our best hitters.”

Kellen Craig came in to work a perfect inning of relief, fanning the final two batters for the save.

“He’s established himself as kind of a closer,” West Coach Jamie O’Meara said. “He has a good bulldog mentality on the mound. He did a great job.

“They’re a good-hitting team. For him to do what he did, it was impressive.”

West played catch up the entire first game. Washington built a 5-0 lead, including Caiden Buonadonna’s two-run home run for his state-leading ninth homer and an RBI from Isaac Hotchkiss in the second.

The Trojans tied it in the third. Henkenius reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch before Christian Sawyer belted a game-tying grand slam.

Washington reclaimed the lead with an RBI groundout from Henry Schuster and a run-scoring single by Hotchkiss in the bottom.

Henkenius tied it again in the fourth with a two-run single, but it was short-lived. Washington’s Brock Davis continued the back-and-forth affair with a two-run home run for a 10-7. Davis went 4-for-5 with three runs in the first game and finished with five total hits.

Teams traded runs before the last-inning dramatics. West answered each time Washington pulled ahead.

“It shows what we can do,” Harms said. “We thought we should have been winning that game the whole time. When we finally got a couple on the board, we really got it going.”

West continued momentum into Game 2. The Trojans took a 4-0 lead. They capitalized on miscues in the first for two runs and added another on an error in the second. Sawyer’s sacrifice fly brought in Harms for West’s final run in the third.

Washington (9-15, 6-12) pulled within one after the fifth. Buonadonna doubled and scored on an error in the fourth. Schuster added a two-run single the next frame.

Henry Elser pitched two scoreless innings for the save in the nightcap. The Warriors’ Grady McGuire drew a leadoff walk but Elser coaxed a game-ending groundout and stranded the tying run at third.

“Henry Elser did what Kellen Craig did in Game 1,” O’Meara said. “He came out there and threw strikes. He trusted his defense behind him. Guys made plays.

“That’s great to see guys stepping up. It was a fun game.”

This wasn’t the only time the Trojans won tight contests. O’Meara said they beat Dubuque Senior in two walk-off wins.

“I think it’s important for a team to be able to come back,” O’Meara said. “When you’re down to your last at-bat, can you put up runs? They’ve done it a couple times now. These guys are always in the game. They’re rooting for each other. It’s great to see.”

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